5th Gen What if there were no 'new pokemon' on this Gen?

[Dragon]

Woo another thread like the other one! So basically, in this thread, B/W are exactly the same but the Pokemon aren't new. They're old. Every single one of them. With no new Pokemon to look forward to in the games, would you still find them as appealing?

Could've GF pulled this off? Would've you enjoyed visiting Unova with a new storyline, region and everything, but with the mascots being two older Pokemon that represent Black and White, and the rest of the PokeDex being older Pokemon? Do you think this would've decreased the amount of negative opinions about the games?

Feel free to discuss! You don't have to answer this all in a list; they're to bump your thoughts; nvn

 

[Otamajakushi]

Nah. That would mean 156 less friends, and I can't handle that. Some of my favorites come from this Gen. Without them, my favorites list would be smaller and always incomplete.

Every new Gen absolutely must have new Pokemon because that's where they get their movies, TCG, manga, tv show, etc from. Without new Pokemon, the other media in the franchise will quickly loose steam.

 

[acatfrommars]

I agree with Otamajakushi, imo it's not a new gen. if new Pokemon aren't introduced. And I don't mean like 10-15 new megas, I mean at least 60-100 new Pokemon. Call me selfish, but I bet a lot of people would have been disappointed if there were no new Pokemon in the 5th. Gen. I don't think Black/White would have gotten a sequel if there weren't new Pokemon. The new Pokemon are a large part of what make upcoming generations exciting

 

[Hikamaru]

Like the others said, a new generation isn't a new generation if there's no new Pokemon. But if the original Black & White had a mixed Pokedex, then I would think Black 2 & White 2 wouldn't have even happened. The new Pokemon is what shapes the new generation, and without it the game feels incomplete.

 

[colter519]

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the 5th generation, but (many) new pokemon weren't the problem there. I feel like the game play felt too forced to cater to the story, which was intriguing. I just didn't enjoy being forced to stop and go the entire game to get through the story line.

The reason I say many of the new pokemon weren't a problem is for a couple of reasons. First, I'm not really a fan of legendary pokemon in general and gen 5 (just like 4, and possibly 3 and 6) had too many of them. Especially mythical pokemon. Seriously, it introduced what, 9 in game legendaries and and 4 mythical? I might be missing some but I know there are at least 13 of them. My other problem with the pokemon I feel came with the fact that prior pokemon were absent in black and white, so they basically regurgitated pokemon concepts. Roggenrola's line felt too much like Geodude, Trubbish and Garbodor were like Grimer and Muk all over again, Timburr and Machop had way too much in common, and so on. They went above and beyond the typical first bird, bug, fodder HM savvy rodent that basically every game has introduced. It felt like many of these pokemon didn't really get a way to stand out and be special as a result, which is rather unfortunate. But I agree with those above, new pokemon need to come with a new gen (although there don't need to be a ton of them)

 

[FireSnow]

I agree with basically everyone else on this topic. If there were no new Pokemon in this gen, it's be a safe assumption that i would not have ended up playing BW and there definitely would not have been sequels. New Pokemon is what makes each generation special and unique and if you just recycle old Pokemon to create the Pokedex for a region it loses that special quality it has and makes it feel like you're playing a game you've already played.

 

[Dillon_68]

If Black/White didn't have any new Pokemon, they would have been 4th gen. Generations specifically refer to the addition of new Pokemon. If Black/White didn't have anything new, I would have passed on them probably, because the region and story were both overall lackluster.

 

[esperance]

I'm gonna disagree with everyone here. I think it's the new region that marks a new generation, and I could just as easily have seen lots of Kanto Pokemon populating Unova instead of the new ones. X and Y recently proved that you don't need new Pokemon everywhere to make a new generation work (there were a limited number of new Pokemon in XY). Besides, the thing about Gen 5's Pokemon was that they were all sorta like replacements for Gen 1 originals, like Roggenrola for Geodude, Pidove for Pidgey, Blitzle for Ponyta, Trubbish for Grimer, etc. etc.

If there weren't any new Pokemon I would just as easily played BW as did with the new Pokemon. I didn't buy the games for a new set, I bought them to explore a new region.

 

[illumine]

That might be interesting, although it would probably devolve into a D/P clone with the same Pokémon in the same areas, etc., as the design itself isn't too original or meaningful. You figure that it would be a nice change to have a game which can stand on its own, or on its gameplay, rather than using new Pokémon as a prop. So, at this point, they might as well have done so, but it was unlikely.

If Black/White didn't have any new Pokemon, they would have been 4th gen. Generations specifically refer to the addition of new Pokemon. If Black/White didn't have anything new, I would have passed on them probably, because the region and story were both overall lackluster.

To be fair, Pokémon are introduced within generations as well, if Black/White had new Pokémon then in any case a few of those are just there to make up for the absence of other staples from earlier gens, such as Taillow and so on being introduced to displace Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow and such. You suspect that most of the games wouldn't make it without the addition of new Pokémon, except for G/S, and that too for about 5 seconds. Still, a gen. refers to the series of games, primarily, which are essentially set in the same region and are similar on the whole, rather than to the addition of Pokémon per se.

In any case, it's worth noting that by this point the addition of Pokémon was a bit weak as well, so there's that.

Nah. That would mean 156 less friends

This is Black/White, not Facebook. Some of the Pokémon don't even like each other, in that context, they also needn't also like their opponents' Pokémon just for showing up.

If there weren't any new Pokemon I would just as easily played BW as did with the new Pokemon.

To be fair, if they start adding Pokémon basically just for the sake of it, then you end up with a lot of filler Pokémon if they just opt to go with the previous gen's Pokémon. Nice name-post combination, by the way.

 

[Bounsweet]

My other problem with the pokemon I feel came with the fact that prior pokemon were absent in black and white, so they basically regurgitated pokemon concepts. Roggenrola's line felt too much like Geodude, Trubbish and Garbodor were like Grimer and Muk all over again, Timburr and Machop had way too much in common, and so on. They went above and beyond the typical first bird, bug, fodder HM savvy rodent that basically every game has introduced. It felt like many of these pokemon didn't really get a way to stand out and be special as a result, which is rather unfortunate.

This was exactly my biggest gripe when it came to Black and White's PokéDex. A lot of the Pokémon felt like cheap rehashes of the original 150 in order to invoke that nostalgic feel but it just came off as poor planning to me. Other than what was mentioned - there's also Foonguss and Voltorb, Tympole and Poliwag, Sawk and Throh and Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting. It was awful.

Honestly I think I would have enjoyed BW if they at least had a mixed PokéDex from the beginning, considering how much more I liked BW2 than the originals. They just tried way too hard to go back to their roots and it failed miserably. If they at least had a remotely interesting PokéDex that was original and had a lot of interesting Pokémon that hadn't been done before - like Gen III or Gen IV's PokéDexes, that would be different.

 

[DigitalMewtwo]

I agree with basically everyone else on this topic. If there were no new Pokemon in this gen, it's be a safe assumption that i would not have ended up playing BW and there definitely would not have been sequels. New Pokemon is what makes each generation special and unique and if you just recycle old Pokemon to create the Pokedex for a region it loses that special quality it has and makes it feel like you're playing a game you've already played.

I agree. It just becomes another game. Hunting for the new Pokémon is part of the charm and the fun. Not knowing what you'll run into next.

 

[Rivvon]

I don't think I quite understand how this scenario would work. What two Pokémon could they possibly use to represent truth and ideals, black and white, if there were no new Pokémon? No Pokémon that came before or after could take the place of any mascot from any generation, because the stories are created with those unique themes--and subsequently, those Pokémon--in mind. There would be no way to create new stories in the manner that Pokémon games have without making new Pokémon unless the already-existing Pokémon are changed drastically to meet those narrative needs--in which case they might as well be new Pokémon.